Rowena Roman - Mei

Blurb

Mei Juan Lin has worked for her company’s law firm for years trying to do justice and change to corrupt system that is Hon Kong’s legal system for as long as she can remember. but whenever she tries to catch Yan Su, a serial rapist things seem to keep going under for her. people tell her to stop, to quit, that this man will always remain free but she keeps going.
Even when a girl breaks into her apartment and tells her the same thing, she refuses to back down, but this girl seems to know far more then Mei is aware. With eyes like that of an frozen lake and the demeanor of a killer with fast reflexes, Mei begins to wonder if she’s in critical danger, not from Yan Su.
But from the girl named Diana Rowena.

Chapter 1 Mei: Part 1

Hong Kong 2026

Mei Juan Lin wasn’t going to give up, no way in hell, even if it meant that the rest of her reputation fall to shambles after so many failed attempts. But she would make him pay for what he had done, not for herself but for every the other young woman that man had done them wrong. Doing something that could never be undone or forgotten.

She splashed cold water before looking at herself in the mirror, her black hair with slight reddish brown streaks that were almost impossible to notice unless close up, or in the summer, if it was summer those highlights would have been easy to spot. A number of times she had to apologize to her superiors and explain that her hair was 100% natural. It had taken a while until winter rolled around to prove that it was all natural, even now people still joked about it as if it hadn’t been some big deal in the beginning.

Her dark brown gaze then turned from the mirror to the window that was close by. It had been cloudy the past several days, making everything dreary and wet with the weather still fluctuating from rain and cold wind. Normally the weather was always warm, but as of recently it had been nothing but rain the past few weeks. Probably due to the possible typhoon that had run past the country, there had been no major damage, or anything of the like.

Though in all honesty she was grateful for the cloud cover, with how much the sun beat down her eyes stung from the bright light. But it might have been due to the fact that she was simply exhausted from the past several cases she had been working on.

And lately her sleep hadn’t been great ether; her mind was plagued with replaying the same event over and over again. Nightmares involving that man, always with that man every time, giving her no solace or peace.

Someone like him wouldn’t stop; she knew that for certain considering his track record, and after trying to convince a number of the victims of those poor girls that were too scared to come forward to testify.

I’ll stop him. She thought as she released a breath before narrowing her eyes in her reflection with determination.

“You’re too strong willed.” Her grandmother’s voice echoed in her mind. “If you keep going on like this will only bring you more trouble.”

I don’t care about that. She thought. “I’ll stop him no matter what.” her voice was low and soft as she tried to keep her emotions in check. Letting out one more breath she moved away from the restroom’s skin and straightened her white blouse and black suit jacket before leaving the woman’s restroom to the front main hall of the Supreme Court building where she saw the accused was now leaving.

Yan Su, the bastard who had been accused of raping a young woman, he was leaving with a damn smile on his face. He wasn’t even remotely sorry for the act that he has committed.

A number of reporters crowded around him and his lawyers as they made their way to the exit, she then looked back to those same doors and saw the young woman and her parents escorting their sobbing daughter as many of the reporters shouted out questions and inquiries in regards to the case that had happened, while the parents merely shielded their daughter against those trying to get her photo.

This wasn’t the first time he had gotten away with what he had done. Yan had been charged with multiple counts of rape and substance use, but every time he had been charged he had got off too little with no repercussions. The evidence and everything involving the case would mysteriously vanish without a trace.

It had to end. Somehow it just had too.

“Mei,” she glanced to Lao Po, a small-time online journalist, and old college friend walked up to her. He was wearing black rimmed glasses and plaid colored fedora with hipster-like clothes as he joined her side. “Still trying to get something on him that’ll stick?” he asked.

“Still wearing that stupid looking hat?” she retorted in response with an annoyed tone.

Lao readjusted his hat in response. “You don’t need to sound so angry…”

“The bastard walked Lou; I’m allowed to be pissed. Wouldn’t you feel the same way if something like that happened to you?”

“Yes,” he said. “But I’ve never been in a situation like that, not to offend anyone.” He looked to Yan Su. “So what now?”

“We continue, until something sticks for good. I don’t want this prick to keep walking free.” She muttered angrily.

“You sound more like you want to kill him then throwing him in jail.” He said, glancing at her then saw the look on Mei’s face which showed all too clearly that it’s what she truly wanted to really do and have it the most violent death possible. He actually moved back slightly when seeing this look in her eyes, women could truly be terrifying.

Mei watched as Yan left the building, how she wished to be able to kill him without any form of repercussions, god knows that he deserved every bit of a horrible death. It was one of the things that helped her sleep at night, killing him in her dreams in the most brutal way possible.

With a breath she went to leave only to stop when noticing something in the crowd of people, calling with questions demanding answers. But within the swarm of people there was someone that caught Mei’s attention. Someone at the other end of the room, a young woman, at first Mei didn’t know why, but the more she watched the girl the more that person seemed out of place. She soon realized why when the girl turned.

The girl was a foreigner, even at the distance Mei could make out the striking blue eyes which were soon covered with a pair of sunglasses. The girl then turned to leave through another exit to avoid the crowds.

There could have been over a hundred and one reasons as to why a girl of her age was in such a place, but Mei couldn’t help but wonder if Yan had made that girl into another victim. It was possible that he had attacked another girl that came to just come and visit Hong Kong. The likelihood of it all was small but was still something that should be looked into.

If Mei saw that girl again she’d have to check on her background if she was able to get her name.

“Mei,” Lao’s voice drew her back to reality.

“Right,” the two of them then left the courthouse, as the media continued to question Yan about how he got out of this and how he felt about ruining these poor girl’s lives in which he kept that smile and said:

“What happened to those girls was truly a terrible thing, but they had the wrong man, much like I keep telling people. Just because I took them out for drinks and dinner does not mean I did anything to them after the fact.”

Mei’s temper flared, the bastard acted like he played no part in what happened to those young women.

Yan then went to a waiting car for him by the steps of the courthouse, as he entered Mei caught a glimpse of a man waiting for Yan, though at the distance she couldn’t see the other man’s face. Lao had told her that he had seen this man in which Lou described as both intimidating and a beauty that was terrifying.

At least that’s what Lao claimed whenever he would go and speak to his confidential informant and whenever that informant came into conversation. Lao would never speak this person’s name, whoever was supposedly assisting in trying to get Yan in jail. She knew right away that there was some kind of ulterior motive for it, there always was no matter what, nothing was done for free in this day and age. Especially when it came to throwing another competitor under the bus, Yan Su was in business with several companies and many or if not all had some kind of tie in with the Triads. It varied however with one organization to another but there was still some form of it lurking beneath the surface. It was like that no matter what part of the world you lived in.

Always some type of grey line between the rules of the world of black and white, at least it was how Mei saw things. It was how she grew up, thinking such things, one of if not many why her grandmother always believed that Mei could get into trouble.

“So what do we do now?” Lao asked.

“It’s like I said, we keep trying.” Mei told him factually as the crowd of people now slowly began to dissipate with those who were agitated not being able to get something for a story. It made her at least somewhat glad that Lou wasn’t one of those people.

Lao was quite for a moment before letting out a reluctant sigh. “Alright, I’ll speak to my contact, and see what kind of strings I can try and pull. But knowing him, he’ll want something from me in return like always.”

“Careful who you trust Lou,” she then added. “Will you ever tell me just who this contact of yours is? Whoever he is, he seems to know a lot about Yan’s activities.”

“You know damn well that I can’t, you’d keep your mouth shut too if it was the other way around. It’s called confidential informant because it’s meant to be confidential, you know that, besides you should trust me more it’s not like I’d do you wrong with this information.” He then readjusted his hat. “So what do you intend to do now?”

“I have a meeting with another one of his victims, a number of them won’t come forward, not that I blame them.”

“They’re scared, not to mention they don’t want to be dragged across senselessly through the media. And with how much technology has changed in the past ten years, it’s even spread faster to every kind of outlet.”

“I know,” she agreed. “And they have all the right to say no, those who do come forward are brave. But even still, with all the cases I have, doesn’t bring us any closer to knowing just how many girls that man attacked.” As Lao rested a reassuring hand on her shoulder she was suddenly brought back to the forging girl that she saw in the courthouse. “Say Lao, do you think you might be able to check with your contact to see if Yan had ever been involved with girls from other countries?”

“Foreigners? Sure, but there’s a possibility I might not find anything.” He frowned and added. “What made you think that all of a sudden?”

Mei merely shrugged. “It’s known that he goes after any teen, be it fifteen to eighteen, it’s not like he’d care where they came from.”

“True, I suppose.” he readjusted his glasses this time before going down the stone steps of the courthouse, only to stop and call out. “I’ll call you later if I get anything, and if you don’t answer I’ll pop by your office.”

Mei watched as Lao disappeared into the crowd of people, she had a meet up with one of Yan’s victims, she only hoped that the girl would testify. The girl was scared but was kind enough to be willing to meet. Mei only hoped that the young woman would be willing to try to get some form of justice on Yan.

Mei soon reached the café where she would meet the young woman Shu Chun, a nineteen year old girl from the local university, and who seemed to be afraid of coming forward about what happened with Yan.

Her eyes darted about trying to locate Shu; the business in the café was going slowly, with little too few customers combined with it being late in the afternoon and the lousy weather that had been hanging around the past little while, when she finally saw the girl, sitting in a booth talking quietly to someone whose back was facing Mei.

“Are you sure about this?” the unknown person asked, the voice belonging to that of a young woman.

Shu nodded. “I am, please. You’re the only one I can ask; I know you have ties to the Xiang family. But I wouldn’t want you too…” she stopped when she noticed Mei; she bowed her head respectively before turning her attention back to the one she was having a conversation with. “I know it’s probably impossible but…” she trailed off when seeing the girl’s expression.

“I’ll do what I can, but it might turn out differently than you’d expect. Keep this in mind, what you are asking could turn into something else.”

“I don’t care, however it all ends I’ll accept it, just as long as you’re able to do this.” Her eyes looked glossy like a mirror, as if she had cried not too long ago, Shu reached out and grasped the girl’s hands tightly. “Please help us!”

Mei frowned, what were they talking about?

The other girl then rose from her seat as she grabbed her coat and leaving the booth before resting her hand on Shu’s shoulder. “I’ll do what I can. Stay in good health alright? I will let you know if I find anything.”

After throwing on her coat, girl then glanced over her shoulder to Mei; the woman nearly flinched when she saw the girl’s sharp blue gaze. Those eyes reminded her of crystal blue water of a lake completely frozen over. Eyes that almost seemed to peer into Mei’s very soul.

Without so much as a word, the girl turned and left the café in complete silence.

That girl, didn’t I see her at the courthouse earlier today? What was she doing talking to Shu? Are they friends? And yet somehow that didn’t seem right to her.

“Sorry about the wait,” Shu said drawing Mei’s attention away from her thoughts. “I had something I needed to take care of before meeting with you. I had hoped it would have finished before you arrived, I’m sorry for making you wait.”

“No it’s fine,” Mei said as she took a seat in the same spot as to where the girl with blue eyes sat. “Was she a friend of yours?”

“Not really,” Shu said with a slight smile. “But she’s nice though, when I first her I thought she might have come from another world.”

Mei frowned slightly. “What made you think that?”

Her smile turned shyer as she shrugged. “I’m not really sure; though it was probably her eyes that made me think that.” Shu’s gaze seemed to turn wistful. “When I first saw at her I thought was like other teen, but when I saw her eyes, she seemed to be older than me, and possibly even you.”

“I really doubt that she would be older than me, I saw her and she seemed normal enough.”

“But you didn’t get a clear look at her eyes,” Shu’s voice almost held an ominous note. “They say that the eyes are windows to the soul, with that girl I believe it to be true.”

“Is that so,” Mei then changed the topic to what she had originally come for. “Now about taking you to court...”

“I’m not taking him to court.” Shu said suddenly.

“What?”

“I’ve decided I’m not going to do it, I’m not going to court. I refuse to be plastered over the media as another one of Yan’s supposed victims. Going through it once was more than enough; I just want to move on from this.”

“How can you say that?” Mei demanded, as she quickly stood in shock from what she heard. “He has to pay for what he’s done to you and all of the other women. You must testify against him or he’ll keep going after others!”

“Is that the same thing you said to the family who lost today’s trial?” Shu’s voice held a note of anger as she looked at Mei with an expression of contempt. “There’s no point in telling me otherwise, I heard what happened. Even if I do go there is no guarantee that he’ll be put behind bars.”

Mei flinched, Shu was right of course, but even still this girl’s testimony was needed. “Look, I know you’re scared but think of all the good it will do for the others out there. Persistence is the key when locking up men like Yan for good.”

Shu shook her head, sending Mei’s resolve in convincing her down the drain. “As right as you are about being persistent I can’t do it. I don’t want my family to suffer like this all over again, I just want to get on with my life, that’s all.” she looked at Mei with a sympathetic smile. “I’m sorry, but I won’t testify no matter how much you persist.”

Sammi Chan:
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Melderise:
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ianwatson:
The comedy is original and genuinely funny, I have laughed out loud many times reading this book. But the story and the plot are also really engaging. The opening two or three chapters seem quite character-dense but they all soon come to life and there is no padding, filling or wasted time readin...

Faye Paul:
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Lacey Schmidt:
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Ben Gauger:
Kudos go to Liz Aguilar, author of To Have And to Hold a fast-paced, gripping, adrenaline rush from start to finish, one of perhaps the finest pieces of writing I've ever read, in particular because of its' telenovela-like feel, May she continually find success as an author. Bravo my dear, bravo!

Lea Sutherland-Doane:
I love this story and it hurts me that it is on a cliff hanger. Please write the next story fast so I can enjoy more of your wonderful writing skills. Your writing skills are amazing and I cannot wait to read the sequel, I promise that this is the best book I have ever read and I love it will al...